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Samuel Weidenhofer

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John Wolfe

Khloe

Tennessee Smith

<div>Hi, my name is Tennessee. I'm 18 years old and a senior in high school. <strong>This fundraiser is to raise money so I can afford a service dog that would allow me to be less limited in life.</strong> This service dog would be trained as a cardiac alert and mobility support dog, which would be able to alert me before I pass out and also help me stabilize myself when my legs feel weak when walking.


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<div>Since I was 9, I’ve been battling multiple chronic illnesses that have stolen much of my childhood and teen years. I live with constant 24/7 pain, fainting spells, collapsing, chronic fatigue, stomach issues, and limb weakness from conditions like POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), fibromyalgia, gastroparesis, neurological disorders, and endometriosis, as well as chronic cluster headaches so severe they required a brain implant called a neurostimulator.


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<div><strong>A service dog would give me the ability to drive, be able to go places on my own, and help me and my parents feel safe in the fact that I can be okay when I go off on my own.</strong> A service dog for my disabilities can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000. <strong>The money would also help pay off my medical bills, as well as help me afford the upcoming medical bills from new specialists I need to visit and potential procedures/surgeries.</strong>


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<div>So far, over the course of 9 years, I have had 6 surgeries, procedures (including upper and lower endoscopies), hospitalizations, tests, medications, and plenty of specialists. My neurostimulator surgery in total cost $250,000 in 2020, with battery replacements for the stimulator costing $50,000. To now, the battery replacements cost $250,000 and the implant in total is $750,000. Every 3–4 years, I have to replace the battery in my chest so that my neurostimulator can work properly. My last battery replacement was in July of 2023. <strong>All of this has totaled to hundreds of thousands in medical debt even with insurance that we still have to make monthly payments on.</strong>


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<div><em>While the total cost of my service dog, ongoing medical care, paying off medical debt, and potential new surgeries is closer to $150,000, I’ve set a smaller initial goal to make this fundraiser more achievable. </em>


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<div>Every donation will help me move closer to independence and help my family manage the overwhelming financial strain. Thank you so much for reading and supporting my journey. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing my story with your friends, family, or social media. Every share helps spread the word and brings me closer to reaching my goal. 


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<div><strong><em>If you’d like to know more about what I’ve been through, here is my story.</em></strong>


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<div>I have been called an enigma (a mystery) by the lead neurologist at Cooks Children's Hospital in Texas. Yet when you go back 9 years ago, I used to be a normal, happy kid, besides sometimes getting an ear infection or having tummy issues, but it was never anything extreme. That changed in February of 2017 when I ended up at my pediatrician's office screaming in pain that my head hurt so bad, I described it as a thousand bumble bees stinging me in my ears and crabs pinching deep in my head. My pediatrician sent me to the ER, thinking I had referred pain from a rare strep infection. Sadly, the ER could do nothing for me besides admit me to the neuro floor. The chronic pain turned into equilibrium problems, passing out, episodes of temporarily losing my vision or hearing, and chronic fatigue. After a long, grueling journey of tests and medications over a plethora of years, I ended up with no diagnoses and instead got a neurostimulator in my head at 12 years old to help manage my chronic 24/7 cluster headaches (better known as suicide headaches).


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<div>Soon after I had my neurostimulator, I ended up being admitted into the hospital for symptoms of a heart attack when I was 12. I couldn’t breathe and had severe chest pain, which led to more tests. I was referred to my cardiologist and was diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). This explained the dizziness and passing out, but it did not explain my chest pain that quickly developed into new 24/7 chronic pain. This chest pain was horrific, and during my menstrual cycle, it became 10x worse to the point I would lie in the fetal position and would cry for days. I could barely eat or drink anything; all I could think about was the torturous pain I was in. Nothing helped, not even the strongest narcotics, which led to having to switch to virtual learning from my freshman year of high school up until my junior year of high school.


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<div>I was helpless. I saw all the specialists I could, from cardiology to neurology to pulmonary to rheumatoid to gastrointestinal, just to check off every box of possible diseases/conditions I could have. The closest my gastrointestinal doctor got was removing my gallbladder because its function was 14%. We thought maybe that would be the miracle that cured my pain, but it did not. In the span of 5 years, we got no closer to a diagnosis than when we first began my medical journey.


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<div>Thankfully, in the later months of 2024, I brought up wanting to see a gynecological doctor to check off endometriosis, which was the last box to check off. I got on birth control in November, and without my menstrual cycle, I experienced a more tolerable existence. As the months went by, I eventually had to switch to a different birth control, and I finally got approved for the laparoscopic diagnostic surgery. I had my surgery on July 3rd, 2025.


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<div>A week later, I got the results back. <em>After years of suffering, I had a real diagnosis: I had endometriosis. </em>


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<div>Yet my medical journey is nowhere near done; the next steps are finding an endometriosis specialist, advocating for a thoracoscopy, and finding a way for me to finally be able to live my life. I have been missing out on life since I was a little girl. I had to quit horse riding lessons, I developed social anxiety, depression, and suffered from self-harm. I was so little and brave, but at times the pain was so much that I considered that maybe it would be best if I didn't exist.


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<div>Now flash forward to me being a teenager, I don't have many friends because I cannot hang out with people without my mom with me in fear that I may lose consciousness, I haven't been able to get my license because of my POTS and neurological conditions, and I've never been able to have a boyfriend since my entire life is consumed by me being disabled. Every single pivotal moment that is meant to be magical for a girl has always been ruined by me being chronically ill. I never got the 13th birthday I've always dreamed of, nor the 16th birthday, and I just hope next year I will get the most beautiful 18th birthday to mark new beginnings for my life. 


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<div><em>While the total cost of my service dog, ongoing medical care, paying off medical debt, and potential new surgeries is closer to $150,000, I’ve set a smaller initial goal to make this fundraiser more achievable. </em>


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<div>If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing my story with your friends, family, or social media. Every share helps spread the word and brings me closer to reaching my goal. 


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Give Me Back the Teen Years Chronic Illness Stole

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Tennessee Smith

Tennessee Smith

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Give Me Back the Teen Years Chronic Illness Stole

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